Fingerstyle Guitar Exercise
Here are some exercise to help you gain finger independence necesarry for playing fingerstyle guitar.
Remember to practice slowly at first and then gradually gaining speed as you move forward.
The following exercise would be best if you have a metronome to help you set your playing speed. If you don’t have one yet, I suggest to pick up one at Musiciansfriend.com
Play all the exercises like this first - thumb (P) plucks strings 6, 5 & 4, index finger (I) on the 3rd string, middle finger (M) on the 2nd string and the ring finger (A) on the 1st string. PIMA is a classical guitar term, it’s actually spanish and it means pulgar, indicio, medio and anular.
Next one is to try and play all the exercise with an alternating finger. Play it with your index finger (I) and your middle finger (M). Play it like this - I, M, I, M, I, M, I, M and so on. This type of playing has actually helped me a lot on my fingerstyle guitar playing. It helped me play faster and helped me play smoother.
If you need help in reading a guitar tablature click here.
All the exercises below can be found on Acoustic Guitar Magazine. It’s a magazine aimed at beginner and intermediate guitar players. It has a lot of tips, exercises and fingerstyle guitar songs/materials. Grab a copy today!
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
This exercise features a hammer-on. From the name itself it simply means to attack or play the note in a hammer motion. First is to pluck the first note (right hand finger or left for the left-handed) and hit the second note with your right hand finger.
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
This exercise features a pull-off technique. To play a pull-off you need to make sure that two of your left hand fingers are fretting the two notes at the same time. Then, pluck the first note and then your pulling-off finger should drag the second note slightly.
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
And that’s it! I hope the fingerstyle guitar exercises above helps you improve your playing. It definitely has help me a lot. If you like the exercises grab a copy of Acoustic Guitar Magazine they have a lot more of that!